Alcoa, the largest US aluminium producer, has reported second-quarter sales and profit that beat analysts' estimates and forecast higher global demand for the metal, which may signal wider economic growth.
Alcoa expected aluminium sales for automotive uses to increase by between 3 percent and 8 percent this year, while sales for commercial trucks and trailers might gain between 12 percent and 17 percent, chief executive Klaus Kleinfeld said on Monday.
"Alcoa is now saying they are seeing faster demand growth and this is good," said Charles Bradford, a partner at New York- based consulting firm Affiliated Research Group. "I would have liked to see them post an even better number, but the industry is still very depressed."
Alcoa's second-quarter net income came in at $136 million (R1 billion), or 13c a share, compared with a net loss of $454m a year earlier. Sales advanced 22 percent to $5.19bn, exceeding the average estimate of $5.02bn from eight analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Alcoa still has a long way to go to get back to earnings levels before the 2008 financial crisis. In the 18 months to June 2008, before commodity and stock markets tumbled amid the global economic recession, its profit excluding one-time items averaged 62c a share.
The company is on the road back and sees indications of a recovery in almost all markets this year, according to Kleinfeld. - Bloomberg
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